Various water sports platforms exist for water sports entertainment. This includes water skis that a person stands on while being pulled behind a boat by holding onto a tow line attached to the boat. In order to water ski the user attaches the skis to their feet. In water skiing some people find it difficult to plane off from a starting point while holding onto the tow line. Others find it difficult to stay standing on the skis (or ski if slaloming) and are concerned about injury if they fall while water skiing. Not everyone desires to invest the time and effort necessary to become proficient at water skiing. Similar issues arise in wakeboarding where a wakeboard, in place of a ski is attached to the user's feet.
Another popular water sport involves being pulled behind a boat on an attached floatable device such as an air inflated “tube.” The tube rider, or riders have limited, if any control over the direction of the tube which is typically directly connected by a tow line to the towing boat. However, tube riders do not need to learn how to maintain balance while planing off like water skiers do. An advantage of water skiing or wakeboarding is the ability to maintain control over movement and allow for performing maneuvers such as jumping over the wake of the towing boat or perform other acrobatic maneuvers.
Other water sports boards exist including, for example, knee boards where a rider kneels on the board, and like water skiing or wakeboarding must learn to plane off from a starting position while holding onto a tow line.
In each of the above described water sports, the rider is exposed to water spray. This can be a minor nuisance or if the water is hitting the rider on the face it may dramatically diminish any enjoyment. It becomes a safety concern if water is allowed to rush onto the face of the rider in a manner that limits the rider's ability to breath.
Safety is an important consideration when engaged in any water sport. All the above described water sports have significant capacity, if not specifically intended to detach the rider from the ski, tube or board. For example, water skis typically fall off the feet of the rider as part of the falling process. This exposes the rider to potential injury from being hit by, or entangled with a ski or tube. The same potential for injury exist with wakeboards or knee boards.
Further, comfort plays an important role in the enjoyment of any water sport. Water skis and wakeboards have limited if any cushioning to ease the comfort of the rider when traversing rougher water.
Therefore, there are opportunities to improve the water sport experience including improvements in how a rider experiences the water sport and improvements in safety and comfort.